Grave marker

ABSTRACT

A SIGN HOLDER INCLUDES A HEAD ASSEMBLY ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED UPON AN UPRIGHT MEMBER WITH THE ASSEMBLY PROVIDING A PLURALITY OF MANUALLY CONNECTED ELEMENTS INCLUDA VERTICALLY CURVED CARD HOLDER SNAP-FITTED WITHIN A BASE MEMBER HAVING SIMILARLY CURVED SIDE WALLS. A CURVED COVER PLATE HAVING A WINDOW SERVES AS A FRONT CLAMPING MEMBER TO RETAIN THE HEAD ELEMENTS IN AN ASSEMBLED MANNER TIGHTLY SEALING THE EDGES OF THE ENCLOSED CARD AGAINST THE ENTRANCE OF MOISTURE.

Sept. 28, 1971 J. w. FRYREAR 3,608,220

GRAVE MARKER Filed June 15, 1970 INVENTOR JAMES W. FRYREAR ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,608,220 GRAVE MARKER James W. Fryrear, Nevada, M0., assignor to The W. F. Norman Sheet Metal Mfg. Co., Nevada, Mo. Filed June 15, 1M0, Ser. No. 45,960 Int. Cl. G09f N US. Cl. 40-125H 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sign holder includes a head assembly adapted to be supported upon an upright member with the assembly providing a plurality of manually connected elements includa vertically curved card holder snap-fitted within a base member having similarly curved side walls. A curved cover plate having a window serves as a front clamping member to retain the head elements in an assembled manner tightly sealing the edges of the enclosed card against the entrance of moisture.

This invention relates generally to a sign-holding device and more particularly to a marker which may be used to temporarily identify a specific location, such as a grave site, until the installation of the permanent headstone.

Many examples of grave markers have been known in the past designed to contain a suitable identifying or index card; however, many of these have required the fabrication of numerous intricate components which were expensive to fabricate and still fell short of providing all of the advantages desirable in such a device. Although primarily intended for temporary use to identify a grave site, nevertheless, it will be understood that a grave marker is in fact often relied upon to serve its purpose for several weeks and even several months on occasions, and thus the weather-proofing property of the device must be suflicient to insure non-deterioration of all of the components, especially the identifying or index card.

In addition to providing an extremely easy assembly of the various involved components without the necessity of any tools, the present invention contains means for exhibiting the encased index card in an arcuate manner located at a point extending well above the horizontal plane of the device such that the identifying data may be observed by a viewer without the necessity of stooping or kneeling. Additional structure of the device provides a most positive locating and retention means for the index card in a manner excluding moisture from the card and in fact discouraging the entrance of moisture to any portion of the interior of the grave marker.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved grave marker comprising a plurality of inexpensive components which may be readily assembled on location without the necessity of any tools.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved grave marker including a head assembly having an arcuate card holder therein adapted to exhibit an index card facing towards an upwardly inclined direction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved grave marker including a cover plate having a window provided with sealing edges adapted to overlie an index card and prevent seepage of moisture to the underlying edges of the card.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grave marker having a base plate provided with side walls with arcuate forward edges about which a curved front cover plate is adapted to be disposed and between which is located an index card removably attached to an arcuate card holder.

With these and other objects in View which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

The preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and illustrates the most common use of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the grave marker of the present invention and illustrates the sequence of steps in assembling the various components thereof.

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view through the upper portion of the invention as it appears when in the assembled condition.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, more particularly FIG. 2, the present invention will be seen to comprise a grave marker generally designated 1, and including a plurality of readily fabricated components which may be produced from any suitable material such as sheet metal and all of which are formed by relatively simple operations, including cutting, stamping and bending. The head assembly 2 is adapted to be attached to the upper portion of a vertical support or stake 3 by means of a pair of mounting tabs 44 struck forwardly from the stake. These tabs are inserted through a pair of horizontal slots 5-5 provided adjacent the top and bottom edges of the flat base plate 6 of the back member, generally designated 7, and are then bent over to rigidly attach the back member to the front surface of the stake. As shown most clearly in FIG. 2, the back member 7 is provided with suitable retaining means including a horizontal upper inturned flange 8 and an oppositely disposed horizontal lower flange 9 which provide, respectively, an upper channel 10 and a lower channel 11 between each flange and the front surface of the base plate 6. It will be understood that each of the flanges 8 and 9 are turned inwardly towards the front of the flat base plate 6 at least from its original flat plane and preferably describes an angle less than 90 with respect to the interior of the base plate. The vertical lateral edges of the base plate are bent forwardly to provide a pair of oppositely disposed side walls 12-12 extending at rightangle to the base plate and each including an angular or curved forward edge 13. As will be particularly noted in FIG. 3, the curvature of these edges 13 is selected so as to provide a lesser radius and thus a greater degree of curvature for the uppermost portion of each of the side walls for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

With the above-described back member 7 secured to the stake 3, the initial step of assembly comprises the insertion of a curved card holder 14 into locking engagement with the back member 7. This is most readily achieved by inserting the base edge 15 of the card holder within the lower channel 11 of the back member and then, by exerting a slight downward pressure upon the top edge 16 of the card holder, snap-fitting this top edge into the upper channel 10 of the back member. Upon the release of the aforementioned finger pressure upon the top of the card holder, it will be understood that the natural resilience of the metal of the card holder will cause it to assume its natural pre-formed configuration which is such as to insure rigid locking action between the two opposed channels 10 and 11. When thus locked within the channels, the two side edges 17-17 of the card holder will be disposed juxtaposed the inner surface of the side walls of the back member at adjacent points just inside the curved forward edges thereof. The body of the card holder 14 is provided with means for locating and positively securing a flexible identifying index card or marker 18. This means may comprise a plurality of diagonal slots 19 formed through the card holder at points which will be adjacent the four corners of the selected card 18.

To provide a weather-proof characteristic, the card 18 is encased within a suitable protective transparent envelope 20 after the appropriate indicia have been written on the card. The exact composition of the envelope 20 is immaterial; however, many suitable plastics are available which may be readily sealed about the edges and will maintain its transparency when subjected to various climatic changes. After endorsing and encasing the card, the corners thereof are inserted through the four diagonal slots 19 of the card holder as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 2.

Thereafter, a curved front cover plate, generally designated 21, is placed in overlying relationship upon the card holder 14 containing the card 18. This attachment is facilitated by means of a downwardly projecting top flange 22 which is in effect hooked over the top edge of the upper flange 8 of the back member and engages the rear surface of the base plate 6. The curvature of the front plate 21 is pre-formed to correspond to the curvature of the forward edges 13 of the back member 7 so that when the front plate is pivoted downwardly and thence rearwardly, the bottom flange 23 thereof will underlie the bottom edge of the lower flange 9 of the flat base plate 6 whereupon final assembly is achieved by manually bending upwardly a pair of closing lugs 24 extending rearwardly from the bottom flange 23. To facilitate this assembly, it will be understood that the bottom flange 23 is not inturned to the degree that the remaining flanges 8, 9 and 22 are. Accordingly, the interior angle between the flange 23 and adjacent inner surface 21a of the cover plate is preferably at least 90.

A cutout portion in the curved front cover plate 21 defines a window 25 encompassing the major portion of the underlying index card 18. It will be understood that the edges 26 comprising the window 25 are each spaced inwardly from the juxtaposed edges of the encased identifying card and these edges 26 preferably extend rearwardly a slight distance from the inner surface 21a of the front plate 21 as shown most clearly in FIG. 4 in order to provide a feather type of sealing edge positively engaging the surface of the envelope 20 overlying the card 18 to preclude the entrance of any moisture into the head assembly and especially the card edges by way of the window 25.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the horizontal or lateral extent of the front plate 21 is greater than any other portion of the head assembly 2 and includes at each side edge a rolled portion 27 which is inturned and overlies the rear or inner surface 21a of the front plate so that the free edge of these inturned or rolled portions will be juxtaposed the outer surface of the two side walls 12 thus serving two purposes, namely to provide additional securing means for the front plate by preventing lateral displacement of this plate with respect to the back member 7 and also to provide additional weatherproofing to discourage the entrance of moisture from the sides of the head assembly 2.

I claim:

1. A sign holding device comprising a head assembly attached to a vertical support, said head assembly including a back member connected to said support, said back member provided with a base plate and oppositely disposed side walls haying angular forward edges, retaining means adjacent the upper and lower portions of said base plate, an angular card holder secured to said base plate by said retaining means and having side edges disposed adjacent said back member side wall angular edges, a marker card having its rear surface supported upon the face of said card holder, an angular front cover plate overlying said card holder and provided with a window exposing a substantial area of said card, and means on the top and bottom of said cover plate overlying said retaining means adjacent the upper and lower portions of said base plate to secure said cover plate in clamping engagement to said back member with the inner surface of said cover plate overlying both portions of said card and said side wall forward edges.

2. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, said base plate retaining means comprises flanges directed toward said cover plate and the area between said flanges and base plate define a channel for the reception of the top and bottom edges of said card holder.

3. A sign holding device according to claim 2 wherein, said flanges define an angle of no greater than degrees with respect to said base plate, said card holder inherently resilient whereby, this resilience permits displacement of said card holder for attachment between said flanges and subsequently insures retention therebetween.

4. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, the side edges of said card holder are disposed inside said back member side walls.

5. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, the curvature of said card holder is substantially equal to the curvature of said side wall forward edges.

' 6. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, said card holder includes a plurality of slots for the re ception of the corners of said marker card.

7. A sign holding device. according to claim 1 wherein, said card includes a protective transparent covering.

8. A sign holding device according to claim 7 wherein, said covering fully envelops said card.

9. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, the edges of said cover plate defining said window project from the inner surface of said cover plate to engage said marker card in a sealing manner.

10. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, the side edges of said cover plate extend laterally beyond said back member side walls and include rolled portions juxtaposed said forward edges.

11. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, the maximum portion of said window area is disposed within the upper portion of said cover plate.

12. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, said side wall angular edges include a greater degree of curvature adjacent the upper portion of said head assembly.

13. A sign holding device according to claim 1 wherein, said cover plate means includes a depending flange adjacent the top of said cover plate and displaceable lugs adjacent the bottom of said cover plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,276,798 8/1918 Norman 40124.5 1,541,203 6/1925 Wood 40l45 1,715,061 5/1929 Doyle 40--125H 2,083,873 6/1937 Sisson 4010C 3,337,977 8/1967 Sobesky 4010 r ROBERT w. MICHELL, Primary Examiner W. I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. "401OR; 124.5 

